Those of us who've had the opportunity to know the deaf or blind/visually impaired have had a small glimpse into an entirely new world where connectively tools must work differently. The deaf "hear" with their eyes and the blind "see" with their ears. As a consequence, mobile phones that rely on both audio and visual functions rarely serve their needs straight out of the box. To address this a variety of helpful mobile apps have entered the market and are revolutionizing communications for the deaf and blind.

Recently, a human kidney took its own way to the hospital - by way of drone. The organ, destined for transplant in an ill 44 year old from Baltimore, found itself as part of a larger project organized by doctors, researchers, aviation experts, and engineers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The project has also been supported by The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, a nonprofit that helps to enable organ and tissue donation and their needed transportation steps.

Ask any American about their last trip to a government office and it's nearly guaranteed that you'd hear about long waits, inefficient processes, slow computers, and unpleasant staff. These issues are so prevalent that they're often satirized in our media. While some individual states have made strides by investing in better training and moving some services online, the problem is far from solved. Now, California senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris wants to improve government tech system-wide with her new Digital Service Act bill. This bill is aimed to provide funding for s

This year at CES 2019, Segway announced its new Loomo Delivery product, a robot developed to handle deliveries in buildings and malls. Fully autonomous, Loomo Delivery can navigate around obstacles and through crowds and handle tasks such as mail delivery (straight from the mail carrier) and moving documents through an office environment. It could even bring you a snack. They're smart enough to figure out where deliveries need to go, and feature interactive screens, and can even work an elevator. Its cloud or 4G connectivity also handles dispatch, updates, scheduling, and monitoring.

In a humorous twist, this week it's the robots that have lost their jobs to humans. The Henn-na Hotel in Japan was opened with bright hopes of a fully robotic operation, but was recently forced to shelve half of its 243 robots.

Samsung, the popular electronics manufacturer, has announced headway into their work to develop technologies that allow televisions to be controlled with brain waves alone. This technology is being developed with the disabled in mind - such as quadriplegics or people with other conditions that affect the use of their hands. Samsung's goal is to create the ability for these people to change channels and adjust sound volume with their mind.

Saint Louis University (SLU) recently introduced 2,300 Amazon Echo Dot assistants to its student living spaces in an effort to make information more readily available on demand. These devices have been customized to be able to answer specific questions about the university, such as library hours, and there are plans to expand their implementation into classrooms, offices, and meeting rooms.

Europe-based HSBC bank offered some revealing insights into the future of your interaction with banking. As many know, more and more banking can be done remotely or even through branch ATMs, reducing the demand for in-person branch tellers for all but the most complicated banking transactions. Artificial intelligence and mobile technologies are fueling the progression. Because of this, HSBC is investigating new technology roles within the company to carry tech-fueled banking forward.

Police have long been relied on to stop crime - either by their presence discouraging would-be criminals, or by putting their efforts into solving crimes and handing the responsible parties over to the courts. With an endless to do list of police work, it'd seem that departments around the world would embrace as much technology as they could to help fight and solve crime. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, especially in the UK. Why? Policing is a "human business" that relies heavily on face to face work, and technology hasn't been so easy to utilize out on the beat.

Alexa, the popular smart home speaker, is moving into new verticals - like your hotel stay. The recently introduced Alexa for Hospitality program is partnering with leading hotel chains to place customized Alexa devices in hotel rooms to aid guests with front desk needs, local restaurant and attraction suggestions, and even ordering deodorant because you left yours on the bathroom counter at home. The devices can even control room lighting and other functions, keeping you from fumbling for a light switch as you enter your room. Alexa for Hospitality's launch partner is Marriott Internati

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PaperFree recently had the opportunity to sponsor the Single A Muckdogs little league team's end of season pizza party. The team, a part of the Vista American Little League, enjoyed the celebration and looks forward to next season!